Tuesday, January 29, 2008

This last weekend we went to the Wheels of Wonder show downtown Chicago. We had heard about it on the radio and usually this isn’t our cup of tea. Personally, I would rather poke my eyes out than go to a car show!! This is always an argument when the annual big car show comes to town each February. But this one was a little different. The first thing on the radio commercial that peaked our interest was that there was going to be a Life-size Mater. Now Vivi loves cars and she loves the movie Cars. The second thing that we heard was that Jason Earles was going to be there on Sunday. Jason Earles is the kid who plays Jackson on Hannah Montana. Unfortunately, we were not able to afford the 8 Trillion dollars for the Hannah Montana concerts so we thought this might be a suitable alternative.

When we got there we started looking at these custom cars, WOW!!!! These are not cars you drive; the only thing you do with these cars is rubbing them with a diaper!!! They also had all kinds of booths set up for the care and maintenance of your car. (I was really happy you didn’t have to specify what you drove when you got the tickets, they might have laughed us out of town!!)

Right in the middle was Tow Mater, and he was huge!!! And of course, Vivi was petrified!!! You could have your picture taken with him for $5 but Vivi wouldn’t do it, so we got a family portrait in front of Mater. Unfortunately, they give you the picture and I will have to scan it to put it on the blog. Take my word for it, it’s adorable!!!

Then the announcement came over the loud speaker, Jason Earles was in the building!!!!!! He was being set up in the custom bike room. When we walked in a very nice lady asked us if we were planning on buying a motorcycle. We laughed (To ourselves) and politely said no.

The line for Jason/Jackson was getting long so we ran over there as fast as the stroller would let us. (I apologize to any Tween out there that I might have ran over) Then we were in line and he came out on the stage. It was very exciting even though we were the only people in line older than Jackson!! His handlers walked around and said that you could buy this 8 ½ x 11 photo of him for $10 for him to sign but he will sign anything. My ears perked up with this little tidbit of information, he’ll sign ANYTHING???!! Matt saw the look in my eyes and said that under no circumstance will I have Jason/Jackson sign a part on my body. (He really can be a stick in the mud) We bought the picture and waited our turn. When it was almost our turn to get up on the stage there were some girls there trying to sell the pictures. One of them had on a Rico’s Surf Shop t-shirt and told us that she works with Jackson but only on days that they aren’t shooting the TV show. Emerson gave her this “Who are you trying to kid?” look. We aren’t first graders, we know he’s not really Hannah Montana’s brother!!!!

Then it was almost our turn and Emerson starting biting her index finger so hard it was making red marks!! When she got up there, we stayed on the side to take a picture (Matt grabbed my arm so I couldn’t go up there) and we could see Jason/Jackson talking to Emerson but we couldn't see her talking back. She just had this deer in the headlights look on her face. Then he told her to look at us and we took a really nice picture. He gave her a high five and afterward she proclaimed that she would never wash her hand again. We had to walk across the stage after her because it was the only way to get to the other side and Matt gently pushed me along so all I got to say was thanks. After Emerson’s brush with fame, we walked around a little more. All of a sudden Matt screamed like Shaun Cassidy was in front of him!! It was April the Loop Rock Girl. The Loop is a radio station and every year they have a contest for a Rock Girl. She makes appearance and poses for a calendar that is sold and the proceeds go to charity and she is stunning!! At her booth they were handing out the calendars so she could sign them and Matt went running. We got in line and Emerson asked for a calendar and waited to get an autograph too. I must say, April was so nice!!!! She wrote on Emerson’s calendar, “Emerson, You are so pretty, I can’t believe it!” “Love ya Girl!” Wasn’t that sweet!!! On Matt’s she wrote, “Matt, I can’t live without you!” Love April. Then we left and everyone got to meet someone except me. Vivi got to meet Mater, Emerson got to meet Jason/Jackson and Matt got to drool over April. As much as I looked through the crowd, I didn’t see Johnny Depp. He must have gone on Saturday so he could meet the cast of Happy Days.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

This last weekend we went up to Wisconsin Dells for their annual Flake-Out Festival. We love going to this but not because of the festivities. Matt’s family comes down from St. Paul, MN and meets us. We get to spend the whole weekend together.

This year we rented a cabin that had 4 bedrooms, and we all stayed together. The people who came were my sister-in-law Onie, my niece Amy, her husband Rand, their daughter Frannie and us. We had such a wonderful time together.

We got up there on Friday afternoon and it was –4 degrees. On Saturday it was more like –10 so we kind of decided to forget the festival for the day and just hung out at the cabin. The girls were playing and no one really wanted to go out when it was so cold. We sat around and ate chili cheese dip, played board games, and took turns taking naps. We had decided that we were going to go to the restaurant on the property because they had a prime rib special on Saturday nights. So we bundled up and took the 2-minute walk to the restaurant. On the way, we played a little and took pictures in the snow. After we got back the girls got into the jacuzzi tub.

Sunday was our last day so after breakfast and packing up; we bundled up again and hit the fest. It was really nice, outside they had snow sculptures, blacksmith demos, and pony rides. Inside a heated tent, they had entertainment and concessions. And inside a large building (once again heated) there was a craft fair and arts and crafts for the kids. Emerson even participated in a snowball-eating contest. They timed her to see how much of a hostess snowball she could eat in 15 seconds and then they gave her a ribbon. All the girls decorated paper mittens with glitter and cutouts. After the festival we all went over to the mall and the girls each got a bear at Build-A-Bear. Emerson got a monkey named Michael, Frannie got a dog named Biscuit, and Vivi got a rabbit named Happy. When they were picking out sounds for their animals, Vivi insisted that she have the monkey sound in her rabbit, so it’s now a monkeyrabbit.

Then it was time to say goodbye with a promise that we will see each other soon.

I wish the ride home were as wonderful as the rest of the weekend!!! We got on the road and after about an hour and a half, Matt realized that we forgot his other coat back at the cabin. He remembered that he had a bunch of stuff in his pocket that he was really going to need, so we had to go back and get it. We got off of the expressway and back on going the other direction when…BAM!!!!! We had a blowout!! Poor Matt started to walk back to the exit to a service station and a policeman showed up and told him that the service station was closed for remodeling. The policeman gave us a number to a tow truck and we sat on the side of the road until he showed up. The tow truck came with 2 trucks, 1 to tow the car, and the other towed the girls and I. We went around to the Farm and Fleet and they put on a new tire. After that was all said and done, we still had to get back to the Dells to pick up Matt’s coat. By the time we got home it was really late and we were all exhausted. (At least Matt and I were, the girls slept through most of our little adventure)

I can’t say that the end of our trip ruined the rest of the trip for us, it’s just we can’t do anything the uneventful way.

I didn’t forget about pink hair pictures, I’ll get them up there soon.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Matt and I have a goal, we are going to own every Johnny Depp movie on DVD. So far we have quite a few. We have always had the Pirate movies, Emerson loves them. Some of our recent acquires are Blow, Donnie Brasco, From Hell, and Nineth Gate. Matt promised me 2 presents because I did a big favor for him; I created a pamphlet for his Route 66 association. So, my next two movies are going to be Chocolat and What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Tomorrow I will tell you about our fabulous weekend with some out of town family complete with pictures. That is if I am feeling well, I have been sitting in the house with the heat turned up, long underwear on, flannel pajama pants, and large sweatshirt, and I am still freezing!!! I believe there is an illness on the horizon.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

So Emerson came home yesterday and told us that she has been moved to the high group in Math. We were very excited for her because she has been working really hard at math. We even have her enrolled in Sylvan Learning Centers because she was having a hard time keeping up last year. The problem was that in second grade they give timed tests, she knew the answers but she could complete the test in the allotted time. So being moved up to the top group is a really big deal for her and us. Now, the homework she has is unbelievable!!!! She is now doing algebra and geometry in 3rd grade!!! We were checking her work last night and the last problem on the page was this:

(4 x n) + 3 = 15n =Now this is not really a hard problem for anyone over the age of 11, but Emerson is only 8 and she had the answer right! In fact, she had all the answers right on the page! The next sheet of homework was shapes that she had to identify, and I’m not talking about basic squares and circles. She had to identify hexagons, right angle triangles, octagons, and pentagons. She had all those right too!! (Matt and I had to look them up online to make sure they were right) If this continues, Matt and I won’t be qualified to check her homework anymore; we’ll have to call NASA!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The streaks turned out great!!! The only problem is that I used semi-permanent hair color and they already faded before I was able to take any pictures. I am redoing them tonight and I am going to leave it on just a little longer. That’s what the website for the products said to do.

The best part of this whole experience is that when I went to parent’s night at Awana last night, Emerson brought all of her little girlfriend up to meet her mom. They were awe inspired with the pink streak and thought Emerson had the coolest mom. (They also thought I was awesome because I ran all the races in high heels because Emerson neglected to inform me that I was to participate in the physical activities) Emerson just beamed with pride!! :)

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I woke up this morning with an unusual feeling, there is something that I need to do. In fact, the thought has consumed me all day…I need pink streaks in my hair!! I don’t know what has come over me, but I’m obsessed. I have been looking at pictures and product all day. My current hair color is very blonde, and I want at least one streak. (I’ll probably only do one, but who knows at this point.)

Here is a picture of my current color and style (I’m the blonde one in the middle)

Now, I am well aware of what people might think or say, so I have come up with a good answer should anyone comment that I might be a little old to be putting pink streaks in my hair. I am going to donate $20 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. That way when people ask me why I did this, I can simply tell them that I did it for the Cure.

This weekend I am getting my haircut, and because I am mature (HA!), I will delay gratification and do it on Saturday night. Stay posted for the after pictures! :)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

My Mother never got to go to prom, so for her 60th birthday we had one for her. We let everyone know ahead of time so they could get there prom attire together and then we hit the resale shops. I personally bought 6 dresses, but never spent over $20 total. The only thing I couldn’t decide was what decade I wanted to go as. Then Matt and I decided that we were going to go 80’s prom because that is when we went to school. That’s when HE went to school, I am MUCH younger. (At least that’s my story) We found a really great store that had 80’s stuff and Matt did Flock of Seagull’s hair.

The girls were a different matter, they don’t sell prom dresses in their sizes at the resale shops, at least not any that I went to. We hit the mall for those dresses and a suit for my nephew Gage. Of course we spent a lot more money on those outfits, but it was totally worth it. Emerson wanted an updo, so I took her to a salon to get it done. She said she felt like a princess.

Everyone had a great time, and at the end of the evening we crowned Mom the Prom Queen.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

What is it about Starbucks and Caribou Coffee? Are these the modern day Opium Dens? I used to be a Starbucks fiend, but one taste and it’s all about the Caribou. If there were one closer to the house I would be in real trouble!! As it is, I get to enjoy it once a week while I sit for 2 HOURS at Sylvan on Saturdays. I get my coffee on the outside so I really hope that they don’t build one closer to me. I don’t think I can afford the caffeine. I’m already chasing the dragon.